Constellation film features rare performances from Matana Roberts, Do Make Say Think, Carla Bozulich, and more, in a strange and unconquered land…

Sure, Godspeed You! Black Emperor might’ve illuminated the Montreal-based Constellation inside your mental galaxy to begin with, but is it necessary to point out the extended credits that (generalization incoming) have made an enduring spectacle out of theoretical anarchy, apocalypse, and/or widespread downtroddenness? Maybe a little bit: it’s been nearly five years since Other Truths (TMT Review), but Do Make Say Think have apparently been working on a new full-length (according to the uncited, inerrant word of Wikipedia), and Evangelista’s reigning “art-punk heroin” Carla Bozulich has a new solo albumBoy out next week. Turns out, through total coincidence, the two aforementioned acts are among a handful featured on a Constellation-focused documentary, crafted by La Blogothèque and set for streaming, well, now!

To get a better sense, it might be necessary to consider “documentary” as a term loosely-defined. Two years ago, La Blogothèque was invited by Viennale, the Vienna International Film Festival, to film around the Austrian capital. And like an exclusive partygoer taking liberties with the +1, Directors François Clos and Thomas Lallier opted to bring along Constellation artists Matana Roberts, Do Make Say Think, Mike Moya of Hrsta, Hangedup, Elfin Saddle, Eric Chenaux, and Carla Bozulich for the sake of showcasing their music in an “unknown place,” “far away from stage.” And We Made The Room Shine reportedly consists of eight “stripped-down performances” in the city. Also around this time: the celebration of 15 years since Constellation’s inception.

So really, it’s not a documentary at all, but a super artistic label dedication, of sorts! I guess! Could be cool!

As one does, James Ferraro — he of last year’s NYC, HELL 3:00 AM (TMT Review) — will soon be presenting a brand-new exhibit at New York’s MoMA PS1 between March 23 and June 13. It’s called 100%, and is made up of three different parts entitled Saint Prius, Dubai Dream Tone, and Eco-Savage Suite.

The whole thing seems basically designed around the notion that maybe vaporwave and vaporwavey-type music is kind of like a wild animal that we’ve been holding in captivity for all this time and that maybe all it wants is to return to its natural habitat like Free Willy in the popular whale film Free Willy. I mean, Saint Prius is a composition that Ferraro put together to act as hold music for the museum’s phone system, Dubai Dream Tone will play in the museum’s elevators, and Eco-Savage Suite is a collection of ringtones available on the museum’s website. Can you ever really go home though? I mean, I think the real Free Willy died once he was free. And I also think maybe vaporwave is already dead? This is all very confusing, which is why I’m pretty sure it’s art.

Anyhow, Ferraro says that, “Stylistically, 100% sounds fake, ethno-ambiguous, New Age, plastic, and readymade. It’s like a fake indoor rain forest in Dubai’s international airport with the most advanced systems to create sustainable ecologies and habitats.” The whole deal is designed to highlight moments where the “sonic backdrop of the 21st-century global city” breaks down into dissonance or distortion. You want to read more about the exhibit and also make the guys down in IT think the history on your work computer is pretty damn cultured? Click here, brother. You want to hear a track that will almost definitely be included in this exhibit? Check out that YouTube video below:

The elusive Gobby: known but unknown, appreciated as a resident of Harlem, but scarcely recognized in public due to an admirable preference for staying inside and nursing his larval offspring — and, apparently, for dabbling in the particular art of hellish marionette, realized through situational comedy. A spoiler preface: remove any expectation of a surprise Seinfeld appearance, in which he theoretically remarks in familiar tone, “What’s the deal with demonic roommates?” No no, just appreciate the subtle commentary on human-devil parallels, and enjoy the music perfectly suited for the absurdity of it all. That, at least, seems to be one thing that you can expect from the semi-anonymous producer. Pack it up, philosophers.

Those who listened to Gobby’s Fashion Lady full-length (TMT Review) or his Lantern EP (TMT Review) and had an overwhelming preference for the general style of either (as relatively distinct as they were), well, uh, too bad, I guess. Or if you’re like me and you lay awake at night pondering the physical benefits of kneecap eyes (if any), relish the unpredictability of it all! Per FACT, Gobby will be releasing Wakng Thrst for Seeping Banhee on UNO NYC next month, and if the two unveiled tracks serve as representation, it’ll excel at playful haunting, in the non-wimpy-Casper sense, of course. The specified tone doesn’t really lend to juke or “ass techno,” but creative sample use and a general sense of abstraction, I’m guessing, would allow you to guess at the artist, if you hadn’t already been briefed beforehand.

Cool bands are so weird, right? It’s like: the coolest dudes out there are the one’s not giving a shit about what you think and puttin’ out mammoth and decadent and willfully tough-to-parse double-albums whenever their temperamental genius-asses feel like puking ‘em out. And yet, if you go around poking your finger into the back of your throat on purpose and all trying to willfully do that sort of cool-guy stuff intentionally, everyone calls you a poseur and goes back to listening to Bowie and Talking Heads whenever they wanna be reminded of Bowie and Talking Heads. They’re also fairly disgusted by your gnarly puke smell.

Where does that put Arcade Fire, exactly? Well, I’ll tell you (per Consequence of Sound): it puts them ALL OVER THE FUCKING ROAD in 2014, bringing their Reflektor show to North America for a pretty incessant run of stadium shows and festival dates and whatnot.

The band first hits the road in March, and don’t look now, but they’re taking lil’ old (relatively) humble indie acts Dan Deacon and Kid Koala along for the rock-star ride before hitting every festival everywhere this summer and beyond. Will Deacon and the Koala gang be forever and irrevocably changed by the utter hipness of touring stadiums with Arcade Fire? Will kids laugh at Deacon’s glasses? Will Kid Koala fit in and “be cool” when faced with a stage as giant and illustrious as Louisville’s famed “KFC Yum Center”?? Or will the puke just hit the fan? Only time will tell.

There’s a theory amongst certain wackjobs that aliens are responsible for the majority of humanity’s greatest achievements. The pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca Lines, whatever. I mean, obviously that’s a lot of bullsht, but how else do you explain New York City rapper Le1f? I mean, I’m not saying Le1f’s booty-poppin’ genius is the result of extraterrestrial life forms, but I’m also not NOT saying it. And now Le1f is poised for an alien invasion so sweet the dance floors won’t even care that they’re being conquered: the release of his first work for Terrible/XL Recordings, the Hey EP.

March 11 sees the EP’s digital release, and come May 6 it’s vinyl 12-inch time. A full-length LP will follow at a later point. Hey features production from Matrixxman, Harry B, Dubbel Dutch, and Boody, who collaborated on the insane track “Soda” with Le1f before. You can listen to all of track three, “Boom,” below:

Allow me to go in-depth about this new forthcoming Panda Bear album. According to Gorilla Vs Bear, “Panda Bear is once again working with Sonic Boom, this time on a ‘break-centric,’ 9th Wonder-influenced new album.” The post goes on to say that it’s “tentatively titled Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper.” Then it says “No release date yet for the record, which features tracks ‘constructed out of samples of self-made sounds’” and that it’s “‘meant as a celebration of the fact that new growth sometimes requires death.’”

Domino confirmed the new release in a short statement on its website. The first sentence says, “We are pleased to announce that the forthcoming Panda Bear album will be released on Domino later this year.” Second sentence begins with “Panda Bear is currently at work on the new album” then ends with “which is tentatively titled Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, with Tomboy producer Sonic Boom.” The final sentence goes like this: “More details to follow.”

Still confused? Me too. Let me blockquote it for you:

We are pleased to announce that the forthcoming Panda Bear album will be released on Domino later this year. Panda Bear is currently at work on the new album, which is tentatively titled Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, with Tomboy producer Sonic Boom. More details to follow.

Check out a newish track by Panda Bear, created for a new clothing line by designer Fernanda Pereira.